Right Between The Eyes
by Soxman
Summary: Before Shepard became the Commander Shepard we all know and love, he had a completley different life. In this blending of backgrounds, Shepard's life before Commander makes him a whole, new person. Novelization. One-shot... for now.


AN: This fic is set during the first game. It is my attempt to blend all three background choices and all three distinguished service choices. The reason I embarked on this project was because (A) I believe Shepard, no matter how good the game was, has a life that one background and one heroic moment can't adequately reflect, and (B) The minimal reaction from Shepard on his background, though I know most people probably liked, seemed to make him a little too undefined, and leave his choices or decisions without context. Here's my attempt, though it isn't the first. I hope you all enjoy. This story will be a one-shot, for now, meaning that as I work out all of the details, I will post more. Think of it like a coming attraction at the movies. I don't own Mass Effect.

Chapter One: The Call

"All right, gentlemen. We've been over these files dozens of time and still nothing," a frustrated Captain Anderson snarled. He wiped the ever-increasing amount of sweat off of his face and turned back to his colleagues, Alliance fleet admiral Steven Hackett and Alliance ambassador Donnel Udina. They were sitting in a well lit room with many comfortable chairs and a bevy of files strewn over the various tables. They had important work to do.

After many years of lobbying, and a trial and error process, the Alliance had finally gotten a major political break. The Citadel Council was going to allow another chance for a human candidate to be auditioned to be a Spectre. The pall cast on humanity by Anderson-Arterius affair, and specifically on any and all Spectre admittance requests, had finally evaporated enough for the council to be willing to give another human a chance. Of course, none among the committee appointed to select the next man for possible admission into the Spectre's wanted to think about the concessions the Alliance must have given up to secure another chance. But now it was down to the very same committee to find good Spectre material.

"1st Lieutenant Adams," called Admiral Hackett.

"Six year career soldier, served on Elysium, before the Blitz, Feros, and Trebin and saw action at Mindior and Torfan. Skilled engineer, excellent with assault rifles, good healer. However, despite his designation, he completely lacks ability with fixing electronic equipment. And, he has run afoul of the Asari after a rather scandalous episode with a Matriarch on Elysium. In addition, he has several charges of insubordination as well as allegations of instability and bloodlust under fire. Not a good candidate," Anderson fired back.

"How about Stanson?" Udina asked.

Anderson looked down at Fyodor Stanson's file. "He has too little experience to handle it. He's only served for three years. And of those three years, most of his time has been spent in moderately stable regions like the Attican Traverse."

All three fell into a very mellow, tense silence. They had no idea who to choose. There were Soldiers, Engineers, Admirals, Instructors, many others with an Alliance Service background, and none of these people fit the bill. They had been close to agreeing on a few candidates, but the Notification reversed the committee's judgment. And now, they had nothing.

"All right, all of the recommended candidate's are unsuitable," Anderson declared. "Steve, can we deviate from the selections and select a non-recommended candidate?"

Hackett reached over to his own Committee Chair dossier. He began rifling through it, looking for the committee guidelines the Alliance brass had sent him. Finally, he pulled out a thick mass of documentation. He turned to the Table of Contents, and then to the section on candidacy guidelines. He finally closed the dossier and turned back to Anderson and Udina. "If the recommended candidates are unsatisfactory, which they are, then the Alliance allows for our committee to make any selection as long as the individual has 'clear and defined abilities and character' and our decision is ratified by the Alliance Oversight panel. So, anyone want to throw another candidate into the ring?"

"How about Androsky?" Udina asked immediately.

"I'm not familiar with that person," Anderson replied, careful to keep the uncertainty in his voice to a minimal; he had questioned every recommendation Udina made, as he was skeptical of the Ambassador's judgment. Udina wanted people suited to better diplomacy rather than actually being up to performing the duties of a Spectre.

Hackett pulled up his file. "Grigor Androsky, former Alliance Engineer, received special training in conflict mediation, and diplomacy. A recent addition to the Alliance diplomatic corps." He looked up at Udina. "His record shows he wasn't that good an engineer, and if he couldn't handle training, then Spectre duties are out."

"What about-"

"No Ambassador, Androsky is out. He saw no combat during his brief career in the alliance, and he has many marks on his record. Any ideas, Anderson?" Hackett asked.

"What about Shepard?" Anderson posed.

Both Udina and Hackett turned to stare at him. They were sitting in silence, just considering, for a few moments. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Udina finally spoke. "Yes, what about Shepard? Do you have his file, Admiral?"

Hackett bristled slightly; Udina had a tendency to rub him the wrong way. He slowly scanned his documents until he finally found Shepard's file. "I don't know how we missed him," Hackett admitted after a minute of skim reading.

"Why, because he's the hero of the Blitz?" asked Anderson.

"No, probably because of all his special training and combat experience," Udina postured.

"Shut. Up," Hackett ordered quietly, "And listen to this, because his file is surprisingly well detailed. Now then…he was born on Earth, though we have no records indicating his parents. Anyway, he emigrated to the colony of Mindoir at ten years old. This was after some reported gang trouble," he glared at Udina, who looked ready to interrupt. "We are all familiar with the events of Mindoir. What isn't well known is that Alliance reinforcements found evidence of resistance by a few of the colonists. Shepard's fingerprints were taken off of a sniper rifle that was estimated to have downed twenty of the Batarian raiders." There was complete silence as the trio's thoughts traveled to the ruins of Mindoir, the atrocity of the decade. Hackett cleared his throat. "Shepard was picked up by the Alliance reinforcements. There are many, many reports of his fragile psychological state after Mindoir. However, he appears to have healed his emotional wounds. In healing, he reached out to Hannah Shepard, the X.O. on the SSV Einstein at the time. She then adopted him, and that was when he became Jonathan Shepard. We have no indication of what his surname was before his adoption."

"You're right, that is a rather comprehensive background check," commented Anderson, who had been frustrated the last few days by the many incomplete files of the Spectre candidates. "I assume sometime after Ms. Shepard adopted him, he joined the Alliance."

"Two years afterwards, in fact," Hackett clarified. "Anyway, he enlisted in the Alliance, and soon completed Alliance Infiltrator training. Actually he also has some biotic ability, which he has received basic training for, though it is unreliable, according to records. Nevertheless, he completed Infiltrator training with top marks, and his skill as a Sniper, as an electronics expert, and as an electronic decryption expert were all marked down as unparalleled abilities. After two and change years of basic training, Shepard was assigned to the garrison on Feros. He served with much distinction, the result of which is that many of the officers he served under have contributed positive reports to this file. Anyway, in early 2176, he requested and received leave from the garrison. He eventually chose to vacation on Elysium, and his timing couldn't have been better. He put his skills as a Sniper and an infiltrator to use organizing a resistance to defend the colony. His defense involved himself acting as a sniper, while the colonists took up arms and held the line so he could pick off the invading force, and then periodically falling back while detonating buildings and structures on top of the advancing force, until the Alliance reinforcements finally arrived. His brilliance as a strategist and his courage under fire, as well as the circumstances of his heroism, led to Shepard being awarded the Star of Terra."

Hackett took another breath. "The next part of his career isn't that well known. The following year, Shepard was assigned to the group of fifty Alliance marines who were assigned the task of investigating the planet Akuze and recovering the colonists who had gone missing. The unit was attacked by Thresher Maws in the middle of the night, and Shepard was the only survivor. Afterwards, Shepard-"

"-Was put in charge of a regimen at Torfan that took heavy casualties, about thre fouths of the unit, due to Shepard's decision to wipe out the resisting Batarian force," Anderson interrupted, a modicum of disgust discernable in his voice.

"Yes, well… at least he got the job done," Udina commented.

"So he is a skilled Sniper, and an accomplished engineer. Any other skills or talents listed in his dossier?" asked Anderson, who wanted to avoid an argument with the ambassador.

"As I said a minor ability in biotics, at most a biotic throw or barrier under extremely serious circumstances, a good all around marksman, and some training as a medic… oh, and before I forget, there are several notations here about his being in excellent health," Hackett finished.

They all leaned back in their chairs and sat in silence once more. Each of them was thinking of questions they needed to ask about Shepard before giving him any further consideration.

"No leads on his parents?" Anderson pressed.

"None," Hackett replied.

"Any demerits or marks against him as a soldier?" asked Udina.

"Two, both minor demerits relating to talking back to a superior officer," Hackett replied. "After that, nothing else. He seems to be, from his record, an exemplary soldier."

"Has he ever given his rationale for his actions at Torfan, or are we to assume this was revenge in part for Elysium, and in part for Mindoir?" asked Anderson.

"When questioned by superior officers, Shepard revealed that his motivation for his "no prisoners" stance was that he thought one, decisive bloodbath against the Batarians might forestall any future incursions once they saw the consequences of "messing with" Humanity. Of course, he used a lot more flowery language to say this; Shepard is reported to have high above-average intelligence. Additionally, from all psychological reports, he appears to have not suffered irreparable damage from his time on Earth, Mindoir, Elysium, Akuze, or Torfan," Hackett elaborated.

There was another bout of silence for a moment. "What of his diplomatic stances and credentials?" asked Udina. Anderson groaned at Udina's desire to have the look part of a Spectre, but not necessarily the act part.

"Except for the Batarians, Shepard has had no interaction with any other races, apart from travelers, stragglers, tourists, and so on. He is a blank slate in terms of diplomatic relationships. However, his file does list several Alliance courses taken in Mediation, Diplomacy, and Persuasive Action," Hackett replied.

Udina scratched his chance. "That is workable," he muttered.

"I don't have any more questions," declared Anderson. "Do you, Ambassador?" Udina shook his head. "Then let's go to the Notification."

The Notification was the name they had given to the ultimate destroyer of candidates. It was a series of searches through Extrenet archives and other related data banks where they referenced and cross-referenced every scrap of data they had on a candidate, looking for inconsistencies, revelations, and possible dirt others could use against their candidacy. It had already destroyed the chances of a dozen good men becoming Spectres.

Ten hours of searching later, and all three were ready to cheer in relief. They had found nothing inflammatory against Shepard in the comprehensive databases they had searched multiple times. No illegitimate children, no taking bribes on the side, no coercive activities, and no charges of spying… nothing. There were no hidden marks against him. Shepard was in the clear.

"So, are we agreed on Shepard?" Hackett asked hesitantly waiting for something to kill his chances, like disapproval from the other two committee members.

"Agreed," Udina answered quickly.

They both turned to Anderson, hoping against hope that he wouldn't be the one to undo all of their work.

"All right," Anderson agreed tersely. "Shepard seems to be the right man for this job." Relief almost instantly replaced the atmosphere of terseness and tenseness that had been in the room not a moment ago. "I'll make the call," declared Anderson.

John Shepard flung his empty beer bottle at the wall, and felt a small measure of satisfaction when it shattered into a hundred pieces. He had just received is new posting: the SSV Normandy. He knew nothing about the ship… or the crew… or the captain… or why he'd been given this posting. However, from the message he'd received, all he had to do was read the words "shakedown run" in the first paragraph to know that this was probably going to be a crap posting. True, he was listed as the XO, but still, a shakedown run… he wasn't going to get any action. That meant that this was an experimental craft, and the Alliance just wanted someone there for a public relations boost, in additional to showing off the advanced technology they were capable of utilizing. Most veterans occasionally got one of these appointments, at the end of their careers when they swapped gun-toting for paperwork. And considering all the good work he believed he'd put forward for the Alliance, he really didn't want this crap posting out of the way of everything, and especially not this soon in his life. He wasn't even thirty yet and the brass was taking him out of action!

He sighed and fell back into his chair as he scratched his night-black hair. His eyes began wandering around his small but comfortable apartment, looking for something, anything, to divert his attention. Failing that, he got to his feet and began stretching. Keeping his limbs loose might keep his mind loose. After a few minutes of stretching he dug his broom and dustpan out of one of his cupboards and cleaned up the shattered beer bottle.

He looked mournfully at the sniper rifle mounted on his wall, one of the really old models that were outdated by ten years or so. The gun he'd used in basic. The gun he'd used on Elysium after his military standard broke down. It represented a lot of what he felt now… after not even a lifetime of service, he was being hung on the wall to be displayed like a milestone in his life, a trophy. Grudgingly, he flipped off the movie he'd been watching. It was one of his favorites, one of the early 21th century flicks, back when movies were movies, instead of all lighting and special effects and animation like they were now. Even _Inglorious Basterds_ couldn't cheer him up now. He picked up the discarded paper, which bore such horrid news.

_Dear Commander Shepard,_

_ This is to inform you that following your period of unassignment after your prior posting on Elysium, you have been issued your new assignment. In three days, you are to report to the SSV Normandy, currently stationed on - to assume the duties of XO of the newly christened vessel. You are to join the crew, and your posting is for an indefinite length of time, from the shakedown run to your next notification of reassignment._

_ Your posting places you under the command of Captain David Anderson. A full list of crew can be found at -. We wish to thank you for your continued dedication and service to the alliance. Full details of your assignment can be accessed at -._

_ With Regard,_

_ Steven Hackett_

_ Admiral _

_Fifth Fleet_

"Damn Alliance bureaucrats," Shepard snarled. Sure they were fine sending him a typed letter telling him his assignment, but any information that might be "intercepted" was left out of the letter. It had been really annoying when he'd just finished basic and he actually had to pull aside one of his commanding officers and ask what it meant. He didn't even want to think about that.

Now he had to actually go on the extranet, open a secure line of communication, and access the necessary information after ten-thousand separate security questions, identity confirmations, and random error messages telling him he was doing something wrong. Mines and mechs he could handle; the Alliance security system… not so much.

He supposed he should have been honored to be assigned to the command of Anderson, Alliance hero extraordinaire. Now, he just couldn't care less. That the brass had seen fit to place the Hero of The Blitz and Captain Anderson on the same vessel only reinforced his notion that this was some kind of Alliance publicity ploy.

He sighed once more, and then began readying himself for bed. Now that the Alliance had given him the new "wonderful" posting, he was going to at least have to look the part of the hero of the Blitz. In fact, tomorrow morning there would probably be reporters at his door asking about his new posting and his reaction to being assigned to some kind of prototype vessel. He needed to act the part of the battle-scarred veteran preparing for his "tough", new assignment. With a sigh, he mentally penciled into his mind that tomorrow he needed to start getting back into top form after is three week layover. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he imagined getting in some target practice tomorrow; maybe even taking a few more 2,000 m shoots on the range. Yeah, his trigger finger was starting to get itchy. With that pleasant though to counter the cascade of rather awful news, Sheppard hopped into bed to get the good night's sleep he'd need to deal with the leeches from the press.


End file.
